Three Love Stories
by Mallory1
Summary: The three love stories of the title are LucasHaley, JakePeyton, and NathanBrooke. However, there is a LOT of NathanHaley.
1. Lucas & Haley Part One

**Three Love Stories**

  
Sometimes he still wakes up screaming. He feels like he can't breathe, or move; he feels like he is screaming her name and she isn't answering. His nerves are on fire, and his body aches painfully. 

Sometimes he wakes up and forgets, and is half-way through dialing her number to before he remembers and slams the phone down into the cradle. 

Sometimes he wakes up, and covers his face with his hands, and sobs.

_Lucas & Haley _

Three Months Earlier… 

He tries to deny it. 

He remembers how in the hospital, he rocked her back and forth as she cried. He wanted to kiss her tears away and bring his mouth close to hers and say, it will be all right. 

He tries to deny it. 

After all, he's always watched her, how her body curves when she bends to hit the ball in mini golf; it's not unusual that sometimes he curves his body over hers and clasps her hands in his around the golf club and helps her. 

He tries to deny it. 

It's not wrong to like to hold her, to feel her warmth, and to have her skin touch his like electric shocks. It's not wrong when she needs it, when she's so sad that he can feel it. It's not wrong to wrap his arms around her if she needs it. 

He tries to deny it. 

But he can't. 

He can't deny the thrill he feels when she enters the room, or how his stomach drops and his hands clench in jealousy when he sees her with Nathan. He can't deny that he watches her body move, and how the sun shines on her hair. And at night, he thinks of her, and dreams of her. 

*** 

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Haley says, pulling Nathan to his feet and making him run belong side of her. 

"Haley…," he says, "Where are we going?" 

"You'll see," she says, and stops to kiss him. 

She begins to skip off again. "Haley!" he yells, "What does that even mean?" 

She turns around and grabs him by the hand and says, "C'mon!" 

He sighs, and follows. 

When they get to the café, she covers his eyes with her hands. "Haley," he protests. 

"Be quiet." Her hands feel soft against his eyelids. 

*** 

Nathan loves Haley. He hasn't told her in so many words yet, but he does. 

Nathan needed and wanted Haley before he even knew her; when he realized it, he thought _Yes. This right; this is exactly where I'm supposed to be._

He remembers he once asked her, "Can I be honest with you?" 

"Uh," she had said. "I don't know. You tell me." 

And even then she listened to him, and for reasons unexplained to even himself, he began telling her everything. 

Nathan loves Haley. He hasn't told her that in so many words, but he does. 

One day he'll tell her. He'll run his fingers through her hair and say, "Haley, I love you." 

*** 

Peyton stares out the window at the slowly drifting marshmallow clouds, wonders what it would be like to fly into the sky and devour one – would it fill her so much that her body could no longer hold her soul and she's have to pop out, free at last? She turns from the window and sees Jake; she turns back to the window. 

*** 

She uncovers his eyes, and says, "Happy Birthday!" 

He looks around from Lucas, who he's finally become friends with, to Peyton, to Jake, to Brooke, to Tim, to his mother. "Haley," he says. "I didn't even tell you that today was my birthday." 

"I know. Your mom did. She said you probably wouldn't tell me." 

Nathan kisses her. "Thank you." 

*** 

Lucas watches Haley with Nathan. 

He doesn't know when he realized that he wanted her. Maybe he's always known. He remembers the one time he kissed her, when they were thirteen, and the secret thrill he had when he was holding her and tasting the sweetness of her lips. 

Afterwards they bought a gallon of orange soda and stained their teeth. They never spoke of The Event again. 

Haley comes over to sit with him. 

"Hey. How are you?" she asks. 

"Fine," he says. Haley looks at her hands. "Haley…," he says, and she looks up at him and says, "Yeah?" 

Do you remember that time on my porch when I kissed you? 

"Never mind," he finally says. 

*** 

"Peyton…" Jake says as he approaches her. 

Peyton doesn't want to talk to him; when he talks to her legs feel weak, and she hate that. Peyton can't stand being weak. 

Peyton has to be strong. 

*** 

After the party, Haley stops by Lucas's house. 

When they are alone in his room, he grabs her and pulls her to him and wraps his arms around her. He closes his eyes and buries his face in her hair. He tells himself that friends do this all the time and ignores the voice telling him that it's wrong. He wishes he could stop, but he can't. 


	2. Lucas & Haley Part Two

_Chapter Two_

When Lucas sees Haley, he wraps his arms around her and closes his eyes. Her hair smells like Herbal Essences. Passion flower and chamomile. Mountain spring water. (He read the bottle once.) Absentmindedly he brings a hand up to touch her hair; he smoothes it down. 

Half-formed thoughts wander through his brain. 

He opens his eyes and the sun gleams off her hair and he smiles and kisses the crown of her head. 

"Hey," she says when he finally releases her. 

His hand brushes hers. 

He knows that the lotion she uses is peaches & apricot something. He knows because he emptied her purse once and examined all of it. 

He also knows that if he kisses her, her lips will taste like cherry lip gloss. 

And he knows he shouldn't. 

*** 

"Peyton!" Jakes says. 

She whirls around. "Oh. Hey, Jake." 

"Yeah. Um. Look, I know I keep asking you, but Jenny likes you so much…" 

"Another wedding?" she smiles. 

*** 

She is waiting in the hallway for Nathan to finish changing in the locker room; she smoothes her hair and applies lip gloss to her full lips. 

Lucas sees her and yells, "Haley!" He jogs up to her and smiles at her; she smiles back. 

"Hey, Lucas." 

He puts his hands in his pockets and she plays with a strand of her hair. 

"Haley!" He looks up and sees Nathan. Haley grins and Nathan runs up to her and they kiss; the Nathan sees Lucas and nods, dismissing him. 

Lucas says: "See you later, Haley." 

*** 

Brooke has perfect nails, and a perfect smile. She is immaculate. 

She examines her nails, and, satisfied, caps the bottle of dusky rose lacquer and drops it back into her bag of nail polish. 

She blows on her nails and then, carefully, begins to flip through a magazine. She reads an article about _How To Tell if A Guy Likes You_, which she rolls her eyes at – because she's Brooke, and every guy _likes_ her. She looks at the fashion pages and takes a quiz: Do You Know How to Tell Others What You Want? 

Yes, Brooke says, yes. It's pretty easy to tell guys, "I want to be on top, baby." 

But deep down Brooke knows that what she wants she will never be able to voice. 

Because Brooke wants to be loved. And no one could ever love a girl like Brooke. 

*** 

Peyton is always disappointed by guys. She was disappointed by Nathan; she was disappointed by Lucas; and when the doorbell rings and Nikki is standing there, she is disappointed by Jake. 

It has become their tradition to hang out whenever she baby-sits, and so they are in the middle of a movie and pizza when the doorbell rings; Peyton says to Jake, "I'll get it," and when she opens the door, Nikki is standing there. 

"Hi," Nikki says, "I'm here to see Jenny." 

"Oh," says Peyton, and she looks from Jake to Nikki and she feels as if this is that night when Lucas chose Brooke all over again, and she says, "I'll see you later, ok, Jake?" and she runs out of there as fast as she can. 

*** 

Haley remembers: 

When she was thirteen, Lucas slept next to her on her bed. 

"I love you," Lucas mumbled. And then his eyes fluttered closed, and his breathing became even, and she knew he was asleep. Her hands were still threaded in his hair, and she blinked at his peaceful face, and she wanted to wake him up and kiss him and say, "I love you, too. I love you. I love you. I love you." 

But she didn't. And she knew that he wouldn't remember that he said it, or maybe he would just pretend that he didn't. And maybe he'd never tell her he loves her in the way that she wants him to. 

But he did say it. He said, "I love you," and his voice was tired, and she knew she would never forget it. 

Her fingers were still tangled in his hair, she realized, but she didn't bother to remove them, because he was warm and she liked the feeling of the pulse point in his temple, and because he was him. Because he was Luke, and she didn't want to stop touching him. 

Because he's Luke. 

*** 

Brooke watches Nathan fiddle with Haley's hair. 

She closes her eyes, and thinks, _I want that._

*** 

Lucas watches Nathan fiddle with Haley's hair. 

"Hey, Haley!" he calls. She looks up, and so does Nathan. "Can I talk to you for a sec? Alone?" 

After a moment, Haley nods, and walks with Lucas to a nearby empty classroom. 

"Haley," he begins, and his hands move as if he is trying to communicate something his mouth cannot say. "Haley…" 

She stares at him, and opens her mouth to say, "What?" but suddenly Lucas' mouth is upon hers, hot and sweet. He brings a hand up to stroke her cheek. 

And when they finally pull apart, all she can do is stare. 


	3. Peyton & Jake

**Three Love Stories   
by Mallory** __

Peyton & Jake 

"Look, I'm really sorry about Nikki." 

"Yeah. I bet you are," she says, glaring at him. 

"C'mon Peyton," he says desperately. "Why is this such a big deal?" 

"Why is this such a big deal?" she almost screeches. _"Why is this such a big deal?_ Damnit, Jake!" 

She stalks off, and his eyes fixate on her golden curls, and he almost forgets that they've just argued. He almost forgets, except that he remembers that he's not allowed to touch that hair, or that face, which had only a second ago looked at him furiously. He almost forgets, except he remembers that this is the one thing he wants most in the world, and he might have just ruined it. 

*** 

"Haley!" Lucas yells. She doesn't turn. "Haley!" He grabs her arm and she swivels. 

"What do you want, Lucas?" 

"Haley – come on, don't do this—" 

"Don't do what, Lucas? Don't do what? As far as I can see, you're the one who did something they weren't supposed to." 

"But—" 

"I'm sorry," she says, and then runs off. 

*** 

Brooke is alone. She is filled with an aching, unending loneliness, and Brooke will do anything to fill the void. That is why she is the way she is. That is why she plays the slut – so that just maybe, maybe, one day a guy will look at her the way Nathan looks at Haley, and the nothingness inside of her will be filled. 

"Hey Nathan," Brooke says. 

He was not paying attention; he had not seen her. "Oh, hey Brooke," he says, surprised. 

"Can I ask you something?" Brooke really doesn't have anything she wants to ask him; all she wants is his attention. 

"Can it wait?" he asks distractedly. "I have to talk to Haley." 

And he walks off, without a second glance. 

Brooke wants to cry. 

*** 

Haley loves Nathan. She really does. 

She thinks that there's two kinds of love – the love that you have for your friends and your parents, and the kind that you have, well the kind that she has for Nathan. She just has to tell Luke that the kind of love she has for him is platonic. 

But it doesn't sound very convincing in her mind, and the more she practices saying, "Look, I don't like you that way," to the mirror, the more it seems to her words are untrue. 

The phone rings. 

She picks it up and says, "Damnit, Lucas, I don't want to talk to you." 

"Lucas?" says a voice on the other end. 

"Oh, hi, Nathan," she says, relieved. 

"I was wondering – do you want to go see a movie tonight?" 

"Yeah, I do." 

"I'll pick you up later then. Bye." 

"Bye." Haley smiles and hangs up the phone. 

She loves Nathan. She really does. 

And she doesn't let herself think about Lucas. 

*** 

Peyton misses Jake. She doesn't like that she fought with him; she wants to apologize, but Peyton is stubborn and something is not letting her. So, instead, when she walks over to Jake's house, she stops the street before and paces back and forth, wondering if she should continue. 

*** 

Lucas sees her coming out of the movie theater with Nathan and runs up to her and says, "Haley, I really need to talk to you." 

Haley frowns, but Nathan says, "Hey, go on, I'll see you later," and Haley is left alone with Lucas. 

"Let me give you a ride," he says. 

*** 

She doesn't ever decide to actually go to his house, but he walks past her and blinks at her, long and slow, and when he says, "Peyton, come with me. Let me explain," there's nothing she can do but go along. 

They sit on his porch and he explains, but his words are lost on her ears because all she can think about is him him _him._

Which is why it takes her a while, when she hears the loud thud to realize that she should turn and look. 

And when she does, she realizes that it's Lucas truck that is all banged up and mangled, and she whispers, "Oh, my God." 

*** 

His nerves are on fire and the pain is unbearable. Slowly, he turns to see if Haley's all right. 

"Haley?" he asks. "Haley? Haley!" he screams. 

She doesn't answer. 


End file.
